JuI,, i9o31 THE CONDOR 99 barbules left to give a decided color to the bird. One juvenile Red-shafted flicker from there, a fully grown bird, taken on May 3o, distinctly shows this abrasion, though it had not progressed sufficiently to greatly dull the fresh coloration of the feathers. On the other hand the Santa Inez River vailey is greatly protected from strong winds, and the specimens from there showed no more abrasion than is normal in a dry climate. The lutescent warblers ([-[elminlhophila celala lutescerts) taken near the town, on their first arrival even, had all their feathers so much worn at the ends as to destroy the tone of coloration, and evidently showed that their northward trip had been a continual bucking against head winds. All the specimens collected of this species were taken between April 25 and May 2, after which date none seemed to have remained, even in spots apparently well adapted to them for breedin? grounds. I had hoped to secure a fine series of Arizona hooded oriole (/ci?rus cucttll?lus nelsoni) but these birds confined themselves entirely to the gardens in the town, where their nests were frequently in evidence under the overhanging leaves of bananas and palms, with telltale shreds of fibre hanging down sometimes for a foot or so. Not a single specimen was met with outside the town limits. The rufus-crowned sparrow (Aimophila ruficeps) was discovered breeding in the vicinity of the town, and in fact one specimen was secured within a couple of hundred yards of the old mission. The first one of this species was captured on May 2 7 , its mate escaping from me. One or two more were seen at different dates and two juveniles taken near where the first one was secured, on June x 3, as well as the one near the mission, prove that this species breeds here, though I believe there is no previous record from this county. Anna hummingbirds were in evidence everywhere, and very numerous, but while many unidentified females of the smaller varieties of hummingbirds were met with, the sterner sex of the Alley, black-thinned, and Costa were seldom seen and but few specimens of these taken, though they were probably feasting among the gardens of the town while their domestic partners were attending to house- hold duties. Bullock orioles, ash-throated flycatchers and Arkansas kingbirds were very numerous upon their first arrival, about the middle of April, but these scattered around the country to their favorite breeding grounds and soon became scarce in the outskirts of the town. Parkman wrens (Trogqodytes aedon parkmani) were more numerous in this lo- cality than in any other place that I have ever visited. In fact they seemed to be everywhere, while Vigors wrens, though frequently heard, were very difficult to secure. It appeared to be a foregone conclusion that when a Vigors was heard 3inging in a live-oak, and what seemed to be the songster was shot at, a Parkman wren was sure to fall, while the former dodged off to the next tree to continue his song. To an accustomed ear the respective songs are so different as to be unmis- takable, and yet this result occurred again and again so that but few Vigors wrens were secured, the fact being that they were very wary while the other wren was not at all so, and that the Vigors would stop singing the moment it caught sight of a person while there was sure to be a Parkroans moving around within a few feet of the spot where the singing ceased. The date of nesting of the white-throated swift (.4etonantes melanoleucus) in this vicinity was definitely ascertained by the taking of a female, on May x9, con- taining an egg almost ready to be laid, with appearances indicating that one or more had already been deposited in the nest. The rocky mountain range back of
